


Will You Dare

by HalcyonFrost



Series: Between the Two of Us [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bets & Wagers, First Time, Fluff without Plot, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki Does What He Wants, M/M, Skinny Dipping, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8329876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalcyonFrost/pseuds/HalcyonFrost
Summary: It started simple enough - Tony voiced certain doubts in regards to Loki, and Loki proved him wrong. Loki did the same right back, and Tony proved him wrong. Suddenly "I bet you haven't" became a regular part of their vocabulary between each other, and along the way, "I'll bet you haven't" started to mean "I want to do this with you."





	

"I'll bet you've never indulged in wandering your world without direction."

"Think again. But if you've already got plans, I am up for a repeat."

It was a running thing between them: bets and wagers of things they had or hadn't done in their lifetimes. The initial start of it was probably Tony's fault, looking back on it; he made certain comments doubting Loki’s invulnerability, and Loki kind of... took it literally. And wasn't seeing a god in full armor taking on a barrage of bullets and walking away without a scratch but a shit-eating grin just the most terrifying and terrifyingly arousing thing Tony had ever seen in his life? Loki later countered with questions as to how good Tony's suit really was, and Tony _had_ to secure his reputation. Things just kind of kept going from there.

After the initial tests, it ended up morphing and evolving into something different even if the first words were the same. For Tony, it became his own method of testing Loki's knowledge of earth and modern culture. For Loki, his method of testing just how adventurous Tony had really been in his life. The oddest things they could think of or that they ran across a mention of, they would bet each other that they hadn't done it. If yes, they would brush it aside, and if no, they would see to it that they _could_ say yes.

Tony bet Loki that he'd never done a corkscrew at supersonic speeds. Loki said no, and though the suits didn't fit Loki, Rhodey gladly offered to abuse his connections and borrow a jet just to get a reaction out of the god that was quickly becoming a friend of his own too. Tony bet Loki hadn't gone to a rock concert, and it became a new experience for Tony too when Loki set a spell over them to prevent from being recognized, allowing them both to get into the thick of it without fear. Tony bet Loki, and Loki would say yes or no. Loki would bet Tony that he'd never ridden a horse across a frozen tundra or any other number of extremely detailed and specific things, and Tony would answer yes or no himself. And repeat.

As far as their records went, Loki had only done about half the acts Tony bet he hadn't, and Tony had done even less. Mostly because Loki picked some really fucking weird things. Loki completed everything that Tony dared him to - there was no mistaking that "bet you haven't" meant "I dare you to" - while Tony only got about... 98% of Loki's dares. All because of that thing with the... _ugh_. No. Sometimes Tony did have limits to taste.

It was all good fun. They'd been going back and forth at it for _months_ , and honestly, Tony wasn't sure when exactly "I'll bet you haven't" started to mean "I want to do this with you" and when going through on the dares started to almost be more fitting to dates. Unusual dates, yeah, but they weren't normal people, and it was... nice. Atypical. Always spur of the moment. Unanticipated. Really wonderful.

Okay. So. _Maybe_ Tony had been holding a pretty big candle for Loki. Maybe for so long that it was getting kind of stubby, but Tony wouldn't let it go out. Couldn't let it go out when every time he saw Loki, it was- it was... It just was. But he enjoyed Loki's company too much to potentially ruin it by making a move. Loki was never short on flirtations, and Tony had mentally debated with himself over Loki maybe even being interested, but what was Tony going to say about it? "Hey, I bet you don't have a thing for me" and either have Loki laugh it off and deny it or have Loki stop being so open with touches and words and actions? No. Tony would not fuck this up. And if being friends still got him friend-dates, then he was fine.

Everything was juuuuust fine.

And then Loki bet Tony to another forest scavenger hunt to find some sort of something Tony didn't even recognize the name of - hello, he was an engineer, not a botanist - and they found themselves in what was apparently Loki's favorite woodland where the sun was hot through the canopies and the clothes that kept them warm in the cool morning air only got clammy in the late afternoon, looking up at the little three room cabin Tony had made sure to lead Loki to despite Loki having been the one giving directions.

"What do you mean _this is yours?_ "

"I mean it's my name on the deed and had it made special?"

"You bought a _cabin_?" Loki sounded incredulous as much as entirely believing that yes, Tony would put a house in the middle of the woods just because he frequented the trails with Loki.

"I didn't _buy_ the place." Tony corrected, already walking up the dirt path to the front door. "I _designed_ it and had it built."

"Of course you did." Loki sighed but followed along behind him and accepted it.

It wasn't like Tony Stark would accept just any old pre-done floor plan out of a book anyway. No, this place was completely self-sufficient and made to be non-disruptive to the surrounding wildlife. He even made sure the process of its construction was non-invasive, and handsomely paid the workers extra to make up for the extra effort and labor needed to ensure it. Solar cells powered the few lights there were inside, the electric lock on the front and back doors, and a lightweight heating and air conditioning system that was pretty much only good for raising or lowering the inside temperature by, at most, ten degrees above or below outside conditions. Considering the whole place - bedroom, bathroom, and the kitchen/living room area - was less than 250 square feet total, it didn't take much power to run it. There wasn't much in the way of Internet connectivity, but that wasn't what was needed out here. All it was for was to be a resting place for when Loki dared him into going on multi-day treks. A resting place with a little more privacy.

Tony punched in the code to unlock the front door and swung it wide open to let Loki in first. The look Loki gave him as he slipped past was warm even through the slight disparagement, but Tony didn't take the latter too seriously. Loki stopped a few feet inside the door, just far enough in that Tony could come in and shut the door behind both of them while Loki surveyed the area. Kitchenette to the far left, sofa directly ahead, the open bedroom door to the right, a fireplace directly in the middle that facing out to the open area and against the bedroom wall positioned to better heat the whole place when and if needed, and lastly, the small bathroom was tucked back on the right behind the bedroom.

"I'm surprised it's not a mansion on a hilltop." Loki commented, but he did look impressed.

"It's not a getaway if I just build another fucking house in the middle of the woods." Tony stayed a step behind Loki as the god peered around corners and examined everything for suitability. "Sooo, do you like it?"

"There's only one bedroom." He commented flatly, and Tony covered.

"There's the sofa too."

"Ah, yes."

Again with the lack of _any_ sort of something Tony could read. Fine. It had been a long day, Tony was miserably tired by now, and he didn't want to keep looking for a sign of something that might not even be there in Loki's feelings. Moving along.

"Come see the best part." He walked past Loki and opened the back door to a screened-in area half again the size of the cabin, but a fine mesh netting was all that protected it from the elements. The "it" being the oblong, natural pool that Tony had put it as well. No chemicals, no maintenance, just made so that the water filtered and cycled itself to prevent it _actually_ becoming part of the surroundings and subject to things that Tony didn't really want to swim in. It was a bit wider than Loki was tall and twice as long, but it was just over five feet deep at its lowest point and the last three feet on one side was tapered up to shallows to better walk in and out.

He could feel Loki at his side, both of them staring down longingly at the cool water that would feel like heaven to their overheated bodies. Before Tony could stop himself and think about it, he was turning to Loki with a grin.

"I'll bet you've never been skinny dipping."

Loki, thankfully, looked amused despite his mild confusion. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

"Swimming. Buck ass nude."

Loki _laughed_ and shook his head, and when he looked back to Tony, his eyes were somehow brighter than his smile. "You know, I don't believe I have." He pivoted on his heel to step closer to Tony, that gorgeous, wicked look in his eye that only ever meant Tony was about to have a ball. "And how long since you have?"

This was either a fantastic dream or a spectacular reality, but Tony was going along with it either way. "You must be psychic. It has been a while."

"Well then." Loki's eyes tracked down and back up Tony's body. "I _bet_ you." Bet, dare, same difference to them lately. And Tony was not going to back down from a dare now.

"When you put it that way..." Tony started with pulling off his belt and tossing it towards the back door of the cabin. "First things first when skinny dipping."

Loki's grin grew like a grinch before moving his hands to his jacket and stripping it off to blindly toss in the same direction as Tony's belt had gone. They didn't bother looking at themselves; their eyes were firmly set on each other until finally, they were down to just Tony in his boxers and Loki in the literal pants that were evidently what passed for Asgardian underwear. At the same time, they paused, hands on their waistbands, both staring and taking in the obvious air and realization of standing on the cusp of the point of no return. Keep going now and they couldn’t go back. Could they? But why couldn’t they? When they were so good just together as they might be _together_? Why did this have to potentially ruin everything?

"Do you need privacy?" Loki teased. "I could turn my back if you're self-conscious."

"Not in your life." Tony mentally gave himself a shove. Fuck what was supposed to happen. They did what they wanted. And Tony wasn't going to lose Loki to anything. They were too good together to be anything but close. "So unless you need some help getting those off..."

Loki laughed, full show of teeth and tip of his tongue peeking out between. "I doubt your hands would stay on my clothes alone."

"Would you mind terribly?"

"Not at all."

Just like that. Huh.

"Hm. It would interfere with skinny dipping though."

"Likely. We'd certainly not make it to the water." Loki agreed so casually, openly admitting that if Tony got closer, not PG-rated things would follow, and it just... was. And they were half-naked outside of a secluded cabin, standing at the edge of a natural bath. But they did have a bet.

Tony glanced to the water's edge for just a second, running all the calculations in his head before turning on his heel and running full tilt and jumping into the pool, curling enough that he wouldn't hit the somewhat shallow bottom but there would still be enough of a splash, and when he resurfaced, Loki was standing in the same place but looking considerably wetter. His hair was dripping, and he was shaking the excess off his hands, an incredulous but happy grin on his face and far too many delicious little trickles of water running down the lines of Loki's chest in all the little places that make Tony just want to climb back out of the pool and lick all the water off.

_Focus, Tony, for god's sake._ And that was so way easier said than done.

Tony slipped his hands under the water and shimmied off his boxers, raising them above his head with a proud flourish. "Another skinny dipping classic." He tossed them to land with a wet flop near the rest and then nodded to Loki's already skintight pants. "So are you going to leave me hangin'?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Loki moved like he was part of the water already, crouching down and slipping in a few feet away from Tony so smoothly that the surface was hardly disturbed. He leaned in a slight few inches closer to Tony as he worked off his own pants and held them out of the water afterward to mirror Tony. He flicked them off and quirked his head to the side expectantly. It wasn't bright enough to actually see anything, but they didn't need to see details.

Loki challenged: "Next?"

Next? Oh, god, what was next... There wasn't a plan to begin with, and now Tony was too distracted with _naked Loki right in front of him_ to concoct more. But this was a game, obviously. They were still playing their game of bets and dares, and Loki was asking for Tony's counter.

"I made the last move," _I started this,_ "so that makes it your turn." _Your move so I know this isn't a joke gone too far._

Finally, Loki looked away as his sights skated upwards while he thought and plotted. "Alright then." He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then tracked back to Tony with an inciting glimmer in his eyes. "I bet you've never seen the sun set on another planet."

But Tony had. Loki _knew_ Tony had. Hell, Loki was _there when it happened._ They weren't friends yet; and Tony was on Asgard with the rest of the Avengers and barely looked at the sunset for more than a few seconds before going back to what he was doing, but it still stood that Loki damn well knew Tony had. And it was looking like the real bet - the one that _wasn't_ a dare for once - was whether or not Tony would call Loki on it.

But where was the fun in dropping the game?

"Another x in your column. I did that one a while ago." Tony said, and Loki looked indecently pleased at the answer. "My turn?" Loki nodded, moving that little bit closer to him in the water. "I bet you haven't binged on a TV show." Which Loki had because Tony did it with him, and Loki loved deciphering the not-so-subtle social commentaries in every series. They had _re-watched_ a couple of their favorites several times.

The fabulously indecent glint in Loki's eyes said that he hadn't forgotten. "Again, you underestimate me."

"Let me try again?"

"If you like."

_Go for the gold, Tony. Go big or get your ass inside and sleep on the sofa._ "Bet you never made out with someone while skinny dipping."

"I'll fix that." Loki's grin had faded down, too focused on the game, his chest taking in deep but faster breaths as his hands already started to float towards the water's surface. They were less than an arm's length away from each other now, and Tony could have easily just reached out and- "I'll bet you've never kissed a god."

And for all Tony really wanted to fix _that_ , he really couldn't resist the urge to be a little shit about it. He started to move away, rambling as he went. "Now I know you're picking things I've already done. Has Thor been telling stories about me again because-"

Loki huffed an annoyed but fond sigh and grabbed at Tony's arm to pull him closer, but Tony moved more than the gentle tug Loki gave him, and Tony put himself in Loki's space in an instant. He slid in so close so quickly that he heard Loki's surprised inhale the second before their lips touched. Loki oddly seemed a bit shocked at first, but as Tony moved his free hand to Loki's cheek, Loki got the hang of it and mirrored Tony, his breath sighing out happily against Tony's mouth as he kissed him back.

He let go of Tony's arm and cupped his hand around Tony's ribs, keeping him close but not quite holding him there. Tony ran his now free hand up Loki's chest, feeling the heavy pulse thumping against his palm before adjusting to rest curling along the side of Loki's neck. For a few moments, it was relatively chaste, and then Loki gradually pushed into the next kiss, parting his lips to gently tug Tony’s bottom lip between his teeth. That little test of going further that Tony gladly accepted and followed with a short lick to Loki's top lip. They kissed with soft lips for long moments more with nothing but the sound of the lapping water around their bodies and the surrounding forest as their soundtrack.

When their tongues touched, it was nearly by accident, but Loki's reaction was immediate. Both arms moved around Tony's waist and pulled him tight up against Loki. Tony physically shuddered to feel _all_ of Loki against him but was deviously glad to have confirmed that he was not the only one here that stiffened at the slide against each other. Loki still didn't part their lips for even a second - only held Tony fast and kissed him like it was their last with his fingers digging into either side of Tony's spine and his back arched to fit every inch possible to his soon-to-be lover.

He pulled back, it seemed, only to give Tony a satisfied once-over. Loki's breath was coming fast, and his length so hard it was practically already poking between Tony's legs, but the dark in Loki's eyes was _gorgeous_ , and Tony was helpless but to stare into it. His voice was rough, but the words were crystal clear in every sense of the phrase. "I bet you haven't been with a god."

"I'm with you all the time." Tony grinned, and Loki rolled his eyes.

" _Anthony_." Oh, and Tony shut up pretty quickly with his name in that voice from Loki's reddened lips. "I bet you haven't." He repeated.

Tony stared up at him for a moment, trying to figure out just what his answer should be, but he damn well knew it wasn't going to be anything different than his first thought: "Ask me again tomorrow, and I'll win that bet."

Smile spreading like the sun coming from behind a cloud, Loki leaned in and kissed Tony again, slower but no less intent, before he took Tony's hand and led him to the sloped pool side. Tony followed every step out of the water, into the cabin, and further into the bedroom where they laid themselves down on the bed.

Experiencing Loki as a lover was no less intense than Tony had imagined - so many times, he imagined and fantasized it - but the night stretched on slowly in soft cries and louder gasps for breath that couldn't sate their taxed bodies.

Tony didn't even have to ask afterwards before Loki pulled him into a loose embrace, and they both finally relaxed into each other. Tony was almost asleep when Loki called him softly.

"Tony?"

"Hm?"

"You didn't _really_ kiss Thor, did you?"

Tony smiled around the huff of breath against Loki's bare shoulder. "I would not allow that man's lips anywhere near me, I promise. There are only two other Avengers that I have kissed, and one was purely accidental while both are distinctly never happening again."

"I am overwhelmed with comforted feelings." Loki deadpanned.

"Loki?" Tony shifted his chin so that he could look up at his scowling lover. "We've both kissed a lot of people aside from each other in the past. I'm choosing to kiss you now. And a lot more in the future too, with absolutely no plans for anyone else in between. So how much more can I tell you that I'm yours now?"

Loki smiled softly and sweetly. "As long as you say it like that? As much as you want."

**xXx**

Tony woke up to Loki crawling back into bed and laying out on his stomach beside Tony with a satisfied and _loud_ sigh.

Much as Tony tried to curl into the pillow he had cuddled up to, Loki was making it quite obvious that morning time was supposed to be awake time. "If you always get into bed like that, I'm going to have to reconsider sharing with you."

Loki chuckled and shifted over to kiss the nape of Tony's neck shortly before laying back out. "I only will when I know you're half-awake, and I want you fully awake before revisiting last night."

Ah. "We should share a bed all the time." Tony flopped over to face Loki and snuggle into his side, his cheek on Loki's shoulder blade. "The only problem now is figuring out who won this bet."

Loki stretched languidly, his muscles shifting under Tony's head before the god relaxed with another pleased exhale. "I don't think either of us lost."

"No, this was pretty win-win. Something good came from you dragging me out to forest monster territory after all."

"You never considered that these adventures might be my way of getting you alone?"

Seriously? "What, really?"

Loki wriggled a bit, but he couldn't see Tony's face in their current position, and Tony wasn't feeling like moving. "Why did you agree?"

"Because you bet me!"

"You've refused bets before, why not with these series of explorations?"

"Because it might be out in fucking nowhere, but at least it was in the middle of fucking nowhere with you." Tony sighed. "I've kind of been trying to figure out the mystery of whether or not you were interested in me or if I was just imagining it."

"Oh, you too?"

Tony giggled against Loki's back and felt Loki's back shaking under Tony's cheek as Loki laughed too. Rolling back onto his side to better see Loki's face, Tony gave his lover a bright smile. "So, Lokes. I bet you've never dated a billionaire."

Loki smiled and then let out a long sigh. "Actually, I have."

"Since when?!"

Loki just chuckled again and brushed his foot down Tony's calf. "I have been for some months now, but he's a bit slow on the uptake."

"You fucking-" Tony grabbed the pillow out from under his own head and smacked Loki across the back of head with it, but it did nothing to smother Loki's cackles. The second hit did even less, and before he could get the third one down, Loki had tossed over and gotten a hold of Tony’s arms and tugged the pillow away. He pulled Tony down on top of him, and directed him into a kiss so sweet that Tony's ire faded fast and gladly. Loki kissed him with a soft second peck after the first and held Tony's cheeks even after they pulled back slightly.

"How about we just keep doing what we want?" He suggested up to his lover.

"Like dating?"

"And all the things that come with it." Loki assured with a filthy drag to his tone that set Tony's skin tingling at the thought.

"You got it. Hey. How about a proper lunch date tomorrow? At that fish place with the view overlooking the coast?"

"I was thinking we would stay another day or two." Loki countered and brushed the tips of their noses together as he pulled his legs up to cage Tony in with his thighs. "Lunch on Thursday instead?"

Was he ever going to say no when between Loki's legs? Not today. "How about Friday?"

Loki hummed like the purr of a pleased panther. "Even better."

Tony melted into the kiss, and as Loki's hands wandered down, Tony could only arch into every touch. When he thought he could take no more, Loki showed off his favorite spells useful for their mild dilemma, and Tony started to question if walking was going to be a possibility by Friday. Maybe not. Then again, he didn't think it was really going to be all that necessary before then.

**Author's Note:**

> I believe her words were somewhere along the lines of "plot thoughts: MCU [...] Tony and Loki skinny dipping together. Thoughts?" and more thoughts and the mere mention of "I see you writing this" made me totally fucking write it up in a storm. You know who to blame. _Who is always to blame._


End file.
